I’m Going to Destroy this Country

The ‘Offering Ritual’.

In other words, it’s a large-scale ritual to give thanks to the gods.

Usually, they offered the best grains, the highest quality meat, and leather harvested that year.

Then the damned gods’ lackeys… no, the messengers of the gods would personally appear to collect the offerings. Of course, even if they were messengers of the gods, they were divine beasts, not gods.

But this time, it’s not divine beasts, but real subordinates of the gods coming?

Why, you ask?

Because an item incomparable to the usual tribute appeared!

None other than the Sixth Demon.

Yeah, what kind of offering are the Fourteen Demons!

They are none other than the subordinates of the Skeleton King who dominated the human world that the gods cherished! The fingers of the great Demon King himself!

As the strongest Demon King ever, the gods gave extremely generous points to anything related to the Skeleton King. In a word, it was the ‘erasing of the Skeleton King’ carried out by those in power.

In fact, the gods seemed very pleased with this offering, so this time, some of the higher-ranking divine messengers were coming.

They must be trying to personally take the neck of the Skeleton King’s subordinate. They knew that the Skeleton King would be anguished and enraged, trapped in a maggot, if they disposed of the subordinate he cherished.

‘Well, the real problem is that I, the maggot, am not there but here.’

Yeah, Isaac intended to not only obtain the prize at this offering ceremony but also give those bastards a taste of their own medicine.

That was definitely the plan, but…

“I’m the attendant!”

“No, I am.”

…Damn it. What the hell is this?

Isaac’s eyebrows twitched as he watched Kina and Naiser fighting.

He had no idea why these brats were acting like this towards him. Ah, it’s annoying. The rattle is so tempting.

Isaac’s hand crept towards the rattle at his waist.

What should he do? They’re blocking the way and being annoying, should he smack them each once before starting? Huh? Smack them and start?

Seeing that, Shuri’s face turned pale.

-Absolutely don’t let his faith… no, his personality be exposed.

Shuri’s body trembled as he recalled his grandfather’s words.

If it was enough for the Eshua direct line to move, and even for the family head to give orders, he couldn’t even guess the level of Isaac’s faith.

‘It must be at a level that would destroy the family…!’

Shuri was about to hurriedly call his teammates.

“Put it away! I said put that rattle away!”

“…?”

At the look wondering why he was acting like that all of a sudden, Shuri grabbed his teammates’ shoulders with a serious expression.

“You want to let his personality be exposed in a place like this?”

“We all know he’s a jerk.”

“…”

“Why are you suddenly…”

Damn it…

Shuri lowered his head.

He wanted to say that it wasn’t just jerk level, but evil god level based on Isaac’s personality. But the problem was that his personality would expose his faith level.

-Understand? Not only those around him, but Isaac himself must never know about his faith level.

Argh! Yeah.

I’ll endure it, I have to endure it!

And Shuri felt uncomfortable with Kina and Naiser in many ways. So he tried not to step forward in front of them if possible… but there was no choice.

Shuri pressed down on Isaac’s rattle and whispered sternly.

“Isaac. Put this down. As your older brother, I won’t tolerate any more nonsense.”

“Then will you play with it instead?”

“…I could… tolerate it.”

‘Damn it. There’s no way words will work on this bastard.’

Shuri hung his head.

But Isaac himself seemed annoyed.

“So you don’t know why they’re acting like that? Suddenly they want to be attendants and freeze to death?”

“You heard it too. The top 5 finalists selected as executioners are assigned attendants.”

The execution is carried out under the direction of the Black executioner. And the top 5 apprentices selected by the Papacy and the imperial family carry out the execution.

Of course, the Black executioner is the one who finally lowers the blade, but the selected ones handle all other processes. That’s why ceremonial attendants are assigned.

But that’s why Shuri was surprised.

‘For me, it’s because of grandfather’s orders that I’m trying to become an attendant.’

…But why are those two after Isaac?

As if sensing that gaze, Naiser let out a hollow laugh.

“See! Everyone is looking at this strangely. Why is the one called the next Pope doing this here, you idiot!”

It seems he really dislikes Kina.

But Kina must have found it unpleasant too, as he showed a light sneer.

“Why are you, the heir of the Red family? Does the Red family make their heir do this kind of work?”

Kina is the Young Gold Duke, but since he is already named as the next Pope, he is personally teaching his younger brother about family matters.

What about the Red family in comparison?

“Has the Red family decided to give up the position of Saint and become a vassal of the Blue?”

“What are you talking about! I definitely saw…! No, I just want to get close to Eshua! Right? Isaac?”

Naiser awkwardly put his arm around Isaac’s shoulder, but soon a scream rang out.

As if asking where he dared to touch, Isaac twisted Naiser’s fingers.

At Isaac’s glare, disgusted as if telling him not to pretend to be close, Naiser whispered in a friendly manner.

“Hey. Don’t misunderstand, my father told me to get along with you after last time. You know… There aren’t many people who can make the statue shed tears of blood.”

Bullshit.

Isaac scoffed.

The Red Cardinal would never say such a thing.

“Obviously, he’ll be looking to find fault for the loss you caused.”

Shuri also agreed.

“It’s suspicious for the Red to come out like this.”

“Ha. If you say that, I have no choice.”

“Yeah. Get the hell out of my sight…”

At that moment, Naiser held something out to Isaac. It was none other than a shining ruby!

At the light of capital shining brilliantly, drool flowed from Isaac’s mouth.

Whisper jumped up and down.

[Kya! Kyaaa! As expected of a rich Ducal family! The purity is on a different level from ordinary jewels! I haven’t seen this level of purity even in the Blue!]

Jewels with such high purity are not only very expensive but also helpful for magic. It’s because special energy is contained in high-purity jewels.

[And it’s a ruby, isn’t it? It’s a direct hit for fire-attribute magic!]

Moreover, they are necessary ingredients for Isaac, who has to unlock magic through specific conditions rather than learning it.

[You didn’t have any way to hide demons other than Shadow Lich, right!]

Even the young skeleton that hadn’t been sent back yet was hiding in Isaac’s closet.

But high-purity jewels are the unlocking condition for summoning magic above 6th level… No, more importantly, how much is that, damn it!

Drool.

Seeing that, Naiser grinned and took out more jewels from his pocket. This time, it was a bundle of diamonds!

Drool seemed to pool and flow like a waterfall from Isaac’s mouth.

Drool drool drool.

Startled by those greedy eyes, Shuri snatched the jewel pouch away. Then he grabbed Isaac’s shoulders urgently.

“Hey! Get a hold of yourself! Would a priest be swayed by such trivial money?!”

“You bastard from the Red family, do you want to be my attendant?”

Aaahh!!!

Shuri covered Isaac’s mouth in shock and dragged him away.

“You crazy bastard, don’t you know the rule that priests shouldn’t be tempted by material desires?”

“What are you saying, rules are meant to be broken!”

Argh! Damn it!

Not only is his faith already wretched, it looks like it’ll become even more corrupted! So this is what grandfather meant by being careful!

Shuri glared at Naiser as if his head hurt.

‘That son of a bitch… He investigated all of Isaac’s preferences in the meantime!’

Isaac particularly liked shiny things among jewels. Ruby was one of Isaac’s favorite jewels.

As expected, Naiser coaxed Isaac as if he had made up his mind.

“Isaac. There are even more rubies than this at my house? Do you want me to show you?”

“…Hehehehe. I want to go play at your house.”

Nooo!

Shuri tightly held Isaac back as he tried to go to Naiser as if bewitched.

At that point, Shuri had no choice but to be wary of Naiser and glare at him.

He didn’t know what that bastard was thinking by trying to become an attendant, but look at what he’s doing.

‘Could it be that he came to find evidence directly?’

He’s been picking nothing but things forbidden for priests to tempt him since earlier.

‘Yeah…! It’s certain!’

Wasn’t it said that Naiser led Isaac’s faith examination at the prison? There’s no way someone like that would suddenly change his attitude and show favor to Isaac.

‘He must have definitely come to catch evidence!’

“Isaac, think carefully. If you come alone, I can show you the Red family’s mines too.”

“Mines…?”

“Yeah, there’s a ruby the size of the moon there?”

“Can I go today?”

Isaaaaac!

But Kina seemed to find that sight distasteful and sneered.

“Look at that so-called Saint candidate!”

At those words, Shuri’s face brightened.

Yeah! That’s right!

As someone aiming to be Pope, don’t you find it distasteful too? It’s underhanded to lure with jewels those who should stay far from greed! That’s ri-…

“You’re bragging about wealth with just that ruby? Our mansion is entirely made of gold. And we still have so much gold left over that even the doghouse and toilet paper are all made of gold. Eshua, if you like, I’ll give you a pillar.”

Damn it! You! Unhelpful! Bastards!!!

Shuri grabbed his head.

But he recalled his grandfather’s orders again.

Calm down. From now on, you have to make Isaac into a holy priest. Otherwise, Eshua will be in danger.

“A pillar is nothing, do you know how pure and sublime Isaac is, just like the Saintess? That kind of…”

“Can’t you give me two pillars?”

Argh! Can’t I just smash your head with that pillar?!

“I’ll give you at least ten.”

Damn it, are you trying to destroy your house!

Shuri rubbed his forehead as if tired.

‘No… so why are these rich bastards going on about being Isaac’s attendant…’

Of course, it felt like Naiser was deliberately trying to lure him into a trap. His purpose could be roughly guessed. But Kina… He couldn’t understand the reason.

‘I thought his interest in Isaac disappeared after being broken at the Gold Pentagon.’

The Gold Pentagon was practically a confrontation between Isaac and Kina.

It was because the item the Gold team brought was the item Kina brought. So everyone was buzzing about whether it meant the Pope’s grandson lost.

In fact, the Blue team and other apprentices also whispered among themselves.

“He went into the barbarian tribe alone and brought back the relic. It was already a national-level achievement. In the end, he must have worked hard to bring it, but the Blue got the recognition. If I were the Gold leader too, I’d be resentful.”

“Is he trying to get revenge?”

But Kina, who heard those words, scoffed.

What? National-level achievement?

That was neither an achievement nor anything.

Because for Kina, subjugating the barbarian tribe was just a way to pass the time out of boredom.

And while others dismissed what Isaac did as a coincidence, it was different for Kina.

‘Even the Prince of the Magic Empire, it was all calculated.’

And not only did he trick the Hella imperial family, but he even managed to manipulate that Prince. Just what kind of powerful force did he show?

So he followed Isaac around and asked to teach him the techniques he taught Shuri, but the answer he got was…

-You’re different from Shuri, there’s no time to be together, so I can’t teach you.

-Ah… is that so? Time?

-Yeah! How long do you think training takes? This kid sticks to me for at least 10 hours.

-Isaac… don’t say things that can be misunderstood.

Shuri said it wasn’t training time, but all the time Isaac used him.

And he said he wouldn’t stick to him if Isaac didn’t cause trouble, but Kina seemed to have heard it differently.

-Ah… I see. 10 hours…? You mean you teach Shuri for 10 hours at a time?

Then if he can follow him around that much, it should be possible for him too, right?

“Come on! If you’re an attendant, you can stick with him 24 hours a day! Hurry and choose me! I’m better than that ruffian from the Red family!”

“…Do your parents know you’re acting like this?”

He couldn’t even imagine what kind of face the Gold Cardinal and the Pope would make.

But Kina acted as if he couldn’t hear and glared at Shuri. Of all things, for Isaac, who has the Pope’s power, to teach Shuri.

-Kina doesn’t resemble Father or His Holiness the Pope much.

-Rather, doesn’t Shuri resemble His Holiness more? Shuri seems to have much more legitimacy as a successor. If only Shuri wasn’t born in Eshua, I would have mistaken him for the successor.

-Shh.

Kina slightly furrowed his brows and looked at Isaac.

“Anyway, the attendant position is mine.”

“What are you talking about! Didn’t you hear he’s coming to our house?”

Shuri’s head hurt.

‘Either side is bad. One is the family of heresy inquisitors, and the other is… the Pope’s family!’

Aren’t they both people who can execute Isaac?!

In the end, Isaac sighed.

“So? Who’s going to do it out of the three of you?”

“Me!”

“Me!”

“Me!”

“Then all three of you do it.”

The three of them shouted simultaneously with wide eyes.

“Exclude Kina Berit!”

“Exclude Shuri!”

“Damn it, exclude both of them!!”

Smack!!!

The rattle knocked down the three of them.

“I’m going alone. Damn it.”

When Isaac turned around, shaking the blood off his rattle, a voice was heard.

“We will now begin Part 1 of the Offering Ritual! The messengers of the gods will descend, so everyone please come inside!”

The apprentices looked at Isaac and the three collapsed people with pale, frightened faces.

…Are we really going through with this?